Inspiratory Muscle Training: Effects on Blood Pressure, Heart Rate Variability and Functional Capacity in Hypertensive Patients.

The interaction between respiratory function and cardiovascular system, as well as the present alterations in these systems, due to diseases such as Hypertension, diabetes and chronic heart failure, are the factors that potentially participate of the pathogenic frame in these situations. Consequently, it is so related to reduction of functional capacity, endothelial dysfunction of the sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular control and morphologic alterations on the skeletal muscles, including ventilatory muscles.

On the other hand, a proinflammatory state also participates of this dysfunction and reduced function capacity situation. Cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, increased heart rate variability, diabetes and heart failure explain the occurrence of the majority of cardiovascular events in the entire world and so in Brazil. Studies with experimental models and in patients with cardiovascular diseases identified important inflammatory activity associated to risk factors and preceding clinical events.

Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) shows consistent results in the improvement of functional capacity in athletes, sedentary subjects, heart failure patients and in animals submitted to an IMT model.

The study of alterations in cardiorespiratory interaction, functional capacity and cardiovascular control mechanisms (sympathetic, parasympathetic by heart rate variability), altogether, in hypertension, is a single opportunity to identify new pathogenic mechanisms involved in the reduction of functional capacity as well as promote its quantification. Therefore, the effects of IMT on these alterations are still not well understood. In this way, the response to IMT is a complement to epidemiologic and clinical models, as potential source of new possibilities in the research field.